Coors-Led Private-Equity Fund Opens Office in Johannesburg

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- One Thousand & One Voices, a
private-equity fund started by the great grandson of the founder
of Coors Brewing Co., said it’s opening a Johannesburg office
after hiring three former Standard Bank Group Ltd. employees.

Navaid Burney, who was chief operating officer at Pangea
Exploration (Pty) Ltd. and previously head of Africa private
equity for Standard Bank, will lead the Johannesburg team,
Denver-based One Thousand & One Voices said in a statement
today. Merafe Moloto, managing director at Motseng Investment
Holdings, and Michael Adiukwu of Standard Bank’s leveraged and
acquisition finance unit, will be directors of the fund.

“A lot of private-equity funds end up as road kill because
the teams are assembled for the wrong reasons -- this one was
hand-picked,” Hendrik Jordaan, president and chief executive
officer of One Thousand & One Voices, said in an interview.

One Thousand & One Voices has raised more than $100 million
of the $300 million targeted for the fund, which will invest in
the fastest-growing nations on the continent, including Kenya,
Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria. While Standard Bank closed its
private-equity operations in 2011, Africa is attracting firms,
including Carlyle Group LP and Actis LLP, with faster economic
growth rates than developed nations and the potential generated
by 1 billion consumers.

The fund has raised money from 15 wealthy families, mostly
based in the U.S., and will seek minority stakes of $10 million
to $40 million in African companies ranging from the transport
to consumer-goods industries.

The first deal will probably be signed before the end of
the year, Burney said, adding that One Thousand & One Voices may
eventually open offices in Nairobi and Lagos.

Adiukwu may specialize in Nigeria and West Africa while
Moloto will probably focus more on southern Africa, Burney said.
The fund may also hire someone with expertise in East Africa, he
said.